By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
Del Rio attorney Jack L. Stern has been named the new city attorney.
Stern was selected as the new city attorney during the Sept. 27 regular meeting of the Del Rio City Council.
Stern is a native of Dallas and attended schools in the Dallas area. He graduated from high school there, and then attended the University of Texas at Austin, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree.
Stern graduated from law school back in his hometown, at Southern Methodist University. Stern said he is the lone lawyer in his family of doctors and when asked why he chose the legal profession, he joked, “Misguided, I guess.”
Stern moved to Houston after law school, “hanging out a shingle” to enter private practice.
“It tended to be mostly immigration, but really, it was whatever walked in the door,” he said.
Stern stayed in Houston about 20 years.
Stern next moved to the Midland-Odessa area before relocating to Del Rio in 2001.
He said he used to travel through Del Rio before moving here and liked the feel of the community.
Stern again “hung out a shingle” and immersed himself as a defense attorney in state and federal criminal cases here.
He also became known as the silent partner in his wife, Diana Stern’s, annual Chinese New Year celebrations, which brought a slice of Chinese culture to the Texas-Mexico border.
Stern said he applied for the city attorney post for a much-needed change of pace.
“You get really tired of collect calls from the jail at 10 o’clock at night, and I thought I’d try something new,” Stern said.
The city has not had an on-site city attorney since Suzanne West left the post to run for district attorney, an election she won.
Stern was appointed during the Sept. 27 city council meeting, following a closed-door session by council members.
After Mayor Al Arreola returned from executive session and announced the council had taken no action behind closed doors, he asked if there was a motion.
Mayor Pro-tem Steven Webb said, “I’d like to make the following motion, that we accept Jack Stern as the new city attorney.”
Councilman Jim De Reus gave the second.
Arreola asked if there were any questions, and when there were none, he called for the vote.
The motion to name Stern passed unanimously, with all members of the council voting in favor.
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